This is how it looks to your average citizen, but professionals at van Oord think about the risks and how to proactively prevent them. The vessel is surrounded by deep level anchors to keep it in place. What happens if the anchors break free from their moorings? An 8,000-tonne lift installation vessel will start drifting. One may ask: “And what if?” Apart from creating a huge wave and just drifting on the water surface, it risks damaging the various cables on the ocean floor. For example, if the Transatlantic Internet cable gets damaged it will lead to a real catastrophe. The risk for such an accident is minimal, but the consequences can be devastating. To tackle these risks van Oord contacted SODAQ to develop a device that could notify both the vessel crew and onshore operators about any unexpected behaviour of the mooring anchors.